Chapter 228

I had grown somewhat accustomed to this dark world—not a round table this time.

There was a single desk and chair, and a girl was seated at the desk, diligently working on her writing.

Without a doubt, it was Koyoham.

Her appearance—somehow like a “girl doing homework”—made me feel a little less tense.

But in the next moment—

“Ah, my apologies. I didn’t prepare a seat for you. I’m still figuring out how this works,”

Koyoham said in her small, yet surprisingly mature voice.

She jumped lightly from the chair she had been sitting on and approached me.

“You look surprised, don’t you? But considering the story settings, it’s a given that I possess a certain level of intelligence, knowledge, and status. Even if I appear as a child, I am a writer. I record what’s in my heart, and by conveying it to the public, I gain wealth. I am a creator.”

“Y-yeah… right. I… I apologize for creating you in this form.”

“No need to apologize. It is also true that my self-perception is that of a ‘young girl.’ Honestly, I, too, want to rely on someone, to be held. So… you there, please sit in the seat.”

Koyoham, giving off an oddly balanced impression, gestured for me to sit in the chair she had just occupied.

I obeyed and sat down—

“Excuse me for a moment… hmph…”

“Oh!”

Koyoham lightly climbed onto my lap, adding her weight on top of me.

“Now, give me a little hug from behind.”

“Eh? …Ah, okay.”

A child speaking in such an adult-like tone, asking for a childlike request—it was confusing.

I hugged her small body lightly from behind.

She was tiny, a real child’s body.
The naturally high body temperature of a child seeped warmly into my chest.

“Hm… this is so calming. Feels really good.”

“That’s good to hear,”

She looked up at me from my arms and smiled, satisfied.

For some reason, she suddenly seemed her age—or at least less like a child—making it feel strange.

“When you let me out of this world, prepare a desk with a chair and footrest, and a few pens from this world. Also, have me share a room with someone. I want to be hugged from behind like now.”

“Ah, okay. Got it. Anything else you want to say?”

“Hm… I want to continue writing using an Order Summon. Even if I have no consciousness, I want to finish what’s left unfinished.”

“Got it.”

“Mm. And hug me tightly one more time. That’s all I need.”

She leisurely indulged herself until the end.
It was… a strange feeling.

As I hugged Koyoham, my own consciousness gradually faded.
…Then, good night.

“…I’m awake.”

“Good morning!”

“Good morning, Shizuma.”

When I woke up, Sheele and Melt had finished changing and were stacking books on my sleeping body as if playing a balancing game.

“What are you two doing with my body?”

“Shizuma was talking in his sleep about ‘books… books…’”

“Fufu, we were testing how many books we could stack on the belly that moves as you breathe.”

“Alright, let’s clean up. We’ll travel until night and arrive at the port town, so I’ll switch to my ‘Serin’ form midway. I used that form last time when helping people.”

“Oh, the girl who helped with the medicine, right?”

“Got it. You’ve already spoken with her, correct?”

“Yes, she wasn’t suspicious at all. Actually… neither Chimegu nor Koyoham seemed to feel anything particular about me.”

“I see… that’s good to hear.”

As we packed up the tent and prepared to depart, I realized that the traveling merchant who had taught us things yesterday, and the other campers, had all already left.
We were the only ones left at the campsite, which felt a little lonely.

We quickly ate the sandwiches stored in the item box for breakfast and resumed our journey.

Before leaving, I transformed into Serin since no one else was around.

“All right. Let’s go.”

“Yay! A trip with only girls!”

“Hm… out here in remote roads, encounters aren’t frequent, but if we head inland, some strange people might approach. Melt, listen. Be careful of weird men, okay? You’re cute, after all.”

“Really? Sheele’s cuter though?”

“I can handle it, but Melt might get tricked… Men are cunning creatures, so be careful.”

“Does Sheele have bad memories or something…? But it’s true, you have to be careful in cities. Scams, kidnappings, etc.”

“Scary… I’ll try not to go out alone as much as possible.”

Good. I also have to be careful.
If I were in Koyoham form, I could be snatched in a sack in an instant.

The carriage barely shook as we rode.
Even though the roads weren’t well-maintained, mostly just compacted dirt, the carriage hardly rattled over bumps or small stones.

Apparently, the mechanism used here came from this continent. It seems likely that heroes summoned in the past brought Earth’s industrial knowledge here.

Hero summoning… with so many dungeons in this country, it might still be happening today.

The journey continued peacefully. So far, we hadn’t encountered highwaymen, nor did we see knights patrolling.
Perhaps the country is overall safe, or maybe attacking travelers on the roads is too risky because explorers move freely.

“Shizuma… I’m bored… I want to see you in different forms sometimes…”

“Using me as a boredom-killer… well, with all this travel—”

Ah, something essential for driving: BGM.

So, I decided to take the form of Hash, who could alleviate Melt’s boredom.

It’s okay, we still have some time until the port town.

Thus, I became a one-of-a-kind being: “my voice changes automatically even though my consciousness isn’t taken.”

“Then, let’s play some music to cure this boredom. We’re moving, so I’ll use the harmonica—it’s not affected by the carriage’s shake—one song—”

“Yay! Sheele can hear it too! Great idea!”

“I can hear it! One song, please.”

Indeed, in a continent with lots of carriage travel, Hash might be very useful.

After the carriage solo performance, I returned to Serin form.
I could even use Order Summon to have Hash ride along and perform.

It feels a bit like using a person as a car stereo, but whatever.

Under a sky sparkling with stars, we safely arrived at our destination: the port town.

“The smell of the sea! Can we find a place to stay now?”

“Let’s try a few inns first.”

Surprisingly, we found one quickly.
The port town regularly hosts deep-sea fishing ships, so merchants and fishermen often use the inns.
Outside of peak periods, the inns aren’t busy, so we could get a room right away.

“Three young girls traveling alone, even in a remote area—aren’t you being careless? The room locks securely, but just in case, I’ll put you on the third floor with no other guests.”

“Thank you for your consideration.”

“There’s no shower in the room, but there’s a shared shower on the first floor. The facilities are separated by gender, so don’t worry.”

Sheele whispered quietly, “They were concerned after all.”

I see, the inn staff were concerned enough—so it’s not perfectly safe yet.
It might be better to return to our normal forms soon and check on the adventurer uncle or the family trying to meet the father.

The next morning, I decided to head to the adventurers’ guild in this town—not the more reputable explorers’ guild, but the adventurers’ guild, which wasn’t particularly popular in this country and was sometimes looked down upon a bit.

I vaguely remembered the adventurer uncle mentioning something like, “It’s my turn on duty.”

Presumably, multiple adventurers were periodically taking on jobs, like acting as bodyguards for carriages.

I made my way to the adventurers’ guild, which stood somewhat isolated on the outskirts of the port town, and opened the door.

“Haha… it’s a bit deserted, huh.”

Inside, the guild was quiet. But it wasn’t dusty or dirty; it seemed that there were simply few adventurers and few people coming to request jobs.

“Excuse me, may I ask you something?”

“Yes! I’ll be right there!”

When I called out at the counter, I heard a cheerful voice coming from the back.

Ah, perhaps they thought I was a client looking for a job.

“Welcome! This is the ‘Ruby Jam’ branch of the Adventurers’ Guild! Are you here for a request!?”

“Uh, well… sorry, I came to ask a few questions.”

As soon as they realized I wasn’t here for a job, their expression visibly fell.

For now, I asked if they had any information about the carriage attack incident that had occurred in the past.

“Oh, that incident? It was a strange one… A carriage attacked by a ‘Boundary Breaker’ overturned, but there were zero casualties. The adventurers on board insisted that the Boundary Breaker was defeated right before their eyes, but no one was ever found. And although there were multiple eyewitnesses—those who had been on board—the attacker simply vanished. It’s full of mysteries.”

“I see… Did everyone make it safely to the port town?”

“Yes, there were no casualties. Only the carriage was damaged and the draft beast pulling it was injured.”

Hearing that, I felt genuinely relieved. So everyone had made it safely.

That dangerous monster called a Boundary Breaker… after that incident, no one encountered it again, and everyone reached town safely.

“Good… By the way, is the adventurer from that time still in this town?”

“Oh, you mean ‘Bern’? Actually, he withdrew from the adventurers’ guild a while ago. He said it was because he had ‘experienced something that changed his outlook on life.’ But adventurers are already few enough as it is… We’re in trouble. Ladies, would you like to become adventurers?”

“Haha… we’re just travelers. In any case, thank you for the information. As a small token of thanks… maybe I’ll spread the word about this guild somewhere. That it was the branch of brave adventurers who boldly confronted the Boundary Breaker.”

“Honestly, I’d take that with a grain of salt… It really was a mysterious incident.”

Hmm… so the adventurer uncle had retired after seeing that threat.

Seeing such danger firsthand, it’s understandable that he considered quitting.

Feeling a little disappointed, I left the guild and reunited with Melt and Sheele, who had been waiting outside.

Why didn’t I bring them inside? Both of them wear explorer badges… I thought they might be treated as adversaries.

“Welcome back, Shizuma. Ah, since we’re in town, I suppose I should call you Selene?”

“Yes. Welcome back, Selene. Let’s head to the town square. It seems that the followers of the rumored ‘new religion’ were carrying some large objects.”

“Hm… that’s concerning.”

Worried that trouble might arise, we hurried through the town, which smelled of fresh sea breeze, toward the square.

Despite the beautiful coastal scenery, a religious issue felt oddly out of place.
The sea air, and yet… something seemed ‘sketchy.’

“Then, may we have your permission!”

“Hm… it can’t be helped. The donations are sufficient, and… in fact, we haven’t had any Boundary Breaker incidents recently.”

“Wonderful! With this, both the Leader and the ‘Saint’ will be pleased! Everyone! I present to you the statue of the ‘Spear Saint’ from our ‘Holy Spear Saint Church’!”

At the square, an elderly man who seemed to be a local authority was negotiating with a group of people in suspicious robes.

Apparently, they wanted permission to display a symbolic statue of their religion in the town.

Hm… if it isn’t dangerous in itself, it’s not really our business.

“It seems to be a religion that prays for travelers’ safety. They worship a figure called the ‘Spear Saint.’”

“Oh, you’ve been investigating? When did you do that?”

“Yes, I saw that they were spreading their teachings here, so I asked a few questions.”

“Wow! That sounds like a peaceful religion?”

Indeed, a religion that prays for safe travels doesn’t seem problematic—for now.

As long as they don’t start demanding offerings from travelers or trying to extort them.

“Now, here is the ‘Spear Saint’!”

At the center of the square, the statue, hidden beneath a cloth, was revealed.

But—

“…Hey, isn’t that… exactly like Selene?”

“…Selene, this might… become a bit troublesome, don’t you think?”

“No way… they really did that, huh…”

It was unmistakably a statue modeled after my current form, Selene.

…I had become an object of worship…!